WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor
Ch. 466
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
Article - Natural Resources
Section 7-514(a) and 7-519
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1983 Replacement Volume and 1987 Supplement)
BY adding to
Article - Natural Resources
Section 7-514.1
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1983 Replacement Volume and 1987 Supplement)
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:
OF
Article - Natural Resources
7-505.
(e) In addition to any fee required in this subtitle, each
applicant for a permit to mine coal by open-pit or strip method
shall pay to the Department, before the permit is issued, a
special reclamation fee of $75 for each acre of land affected.
The fee shall be paid only when an acre is initially permitted.
This fee shall be deposited in the Bituminous Coal Open-Pit
Mining Reclamation Fund. The payment shall be based on the same
number of acres as that for which a bond is required.
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 7-514 of this subtitle, the
Secretary shall use the funds produced by the fee under this
subsection to backfill, grade, and plant areas affected by
open-pit mining where the funds received from forfeiture on
bonds, cash, securities, and other collateral are not sufficient
to do the necessary backfilling, grading, and planting. However,
if at any time the money produced by this fee and at that time in
the Bituminous Coal Open-Pit Mining Reclamation Fund exceed the
sum of $750,000, then the Secretary may use this excess money in
accordance with the provisions of § 7-514 of this subtitle.
7-514.
(a) (1) Any funds that the Department receives and retains
from license and special reclamation fees, mine reclamation
surcharge, forfeiture of bonds, cash deposits, or securities
shall be deposited to the credit of the State Treasurer in a bank
he designates. The funds shall be maintained as a special fund
on the books of the Comptroller of the Treasury in an account
known as the "Bituminous Coal Open-Pit Mining Reclamation Fund."
The Secretary shall use the funds to implement this subtitle and
to backfill, grade, and plant areas affected by open-pit mining.
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